Paying The Price
by zerobullshitallowed
Summary: Danny couldn't take this any longer. He didn't want to be like this. All he wanted was a normal life. This lead to him making a life-altering decision, thinking that now everything would be better. He was wrong.
1. Chapter 1

" _Why are you doing this?" he asked, trying to free himself, fear and also anger apparent in his voice._

 _Danny simply stared at him, hearing his parents coming down the stairs._

" _Answer me! Why? I didn't do anything!" he cried out. His eyes widened as he saw Jack and Maddie entering the basement._

 _Still Danny didn't reply and looked at his parents, his expression shifting. No longer did he look unfazed by the situation. He looked near tears, his face that of a scared child's. "Mum, Dad, I- I caught a ghost. He was attacking me," he told them, showing them the wound on his shoulder. His mother glared at the ghost who was simply staring at her, frozen in place. "Nobody hurts my son."_

 _When the ghost looked at him, afraid for his life, Danny simply smiled._

* * *

"No."

"Come on, Danny. Don't you want to know if it could actually work?"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to. The idea of ghosts actually existing scared him, not that he was ever going to tell his parents that. Two self-proclaimed ghost hunters having a child who was afraid of ghosts? No, he could never tell them.

"Yeah I mean, this is so cool! Your parents really are geniuses, even if they are a bit on the crazy side. I mean, look at this!"

Tucker was inspecting the various gadgets that were strewn across the basement and Danny thought it was a bit strange that his two best friends were more interested in what his parents did than he was. They were the ones who had wanted to look at the Ghost Portal after he had told them his parents had failed to get it to work the day before.

For as long as he could remember they had been obsessing over ghosts. No matter how many setbacks they experienced, after a few days of wallowing in self-pity they were back at it again, trying to prove the existence of ghosts. They had no doubt that they were indeed real.

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Sam asked him and Danny shrugged. "Not really. It doesn't work, because there are no ghosts and certainly no place where they live."

Sam looked at the failure of a portal again. "It took them ages to build that. Don't you think that maybe there is a chance that they are right?"

Danny crossed his arms. "Come on, you too? There are no ghosts. My parents are simply wasting their money on this stuff. They've been researching for years and have never seen a ghost, nothing."

"But wouldn't it be cool though?" Tucker wondered. "Imagine if your parents were actually right. They could finally prove to this city that what they're doing isn't completely crazy."

That would be great. Then he would no longer get bullied at school, at least not at this rate. The whole city thought his parents were a joke, including the other kids at school. To them he was the strange guy who had nutjobs for parents. And while he had at first tried to convince them that they weren't, he no longer did. It only prolonged the teasing and made him gain more attention, attention which he hated.

It was almost funny that his sister was fairly popular at school, but then again, she was more socially gifted and could stand up for herself if needed. Danny couldn't, he simply lacked the self-esteem. He lacked a lot of things.

"So you won't take a look at it?" Sam asked him again and Danny rolled his eyes.

"I already told you I don't want to. …it's weird," he said, staring at the invention. Looking at it gave him the creeps. It was dark inside and he didn't know why, but he felt cold all over when he looked at it for too long.

Tucker stopped walking around the basement-turned-laboratory to stand next to him. "Your parents must've been pretty disappointed when it didn't work."

"You have no idea."

They had dragged him down here to witness the beginning of something great, as his father had put it. The two had been so excited. It had been a while since Danny had seen them like this and part of him had wanted it to work.

The look on their faces when the portal had failed to activate had been devastating to see. Years of work for nothing. His sister had said they would get over it like they always did after Danny had told her what had happened. But they had yet to talk to their children. It must have felt like a slap in the face to not get repaid for all their sleepless night of researching, for all their efforts to prove that they were right.

Something tugged at his heart as he recalled their looks of disappointment. Part of him wanted their portal to work so they could be happy. He hated seeing his parents like this. He wanted it to function, even if that meant ghosts really did exist and that his fears were completely justified.

"Okay. I'll do it," Danny gave in and Sam smiled brightly.

"Great! Although, you should probably wear one of those safety suits just in case," she told him and Tucker nodded in agreement. Typical. They wouldn't do it themselves but wanted him to go, even though they knew it could be dangerous.

He changed into the jumpsuit his dad had made for him. He was still trying to get him into the whole ghost hunting thing ever since he realised Jazz would most likely never follow in his and their mum's footsteps.

"Wait, that definitely has to go," Sam said and pulled one of his dad's infamous stickers off. His friends were looking at him expectantly and although Danny wanted to go inspect the portal to help his parents, he now felt the pressure of his friends too.

Danny had no idea how the portal worked. Sure, his parents had told him about it, but he hadn't listened. Now he was thinking maybe that had been a mistake. He had no idea what he was supposed to do in order to fix it.

Carefully he stepped into the portal, a shiver running down his spine. The air around him felt colder all of a sudden. Being inside this massive machine truly was creepy.

"And? See anything out of place?" he heard Tucker ask and he rolled his eyes. "I've been in here for a few seconds. Let me take a look first," Danny replied. Despite his friends' assumption that he apparently must know how to fix it, he truly had no idea. He didn't even know what to look for.

Hesitantly he took a few more steps inside. The light got dimmer and his footsteps were the only thing he heard besides his own breathing. The construct certainly was impressive. His parents had spent so much time down here, building what they believed to be the door to another world and Danny knew he had to do something. He couldn't let his parents down.

"Guys, I don't know what to do. It's really dark in here, I can't see anything anymore," he told them truthfully and sighed, disappointed in himself. He had no idea what to look for in order to fix the portal. There was no way he could repair it. There was also the possibility that his parents had simply been wrong. "I don't think I can do any-"

He suddenly stumbled over his own feet and held himself upright with his left hand against the wall, supporting his weight. Unexpectedly he felt something give way and the machine turned itself on.

"Danny? Something happened!" he faintly heard Tucker yell alongside with Sam screaming to get out of the portal, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was green light before pain, agonising pain consumed him, leaving him to only be able to scream in utter agony.

* * *

 _Danny saw him lying there, held to the table by shackles._

" _Why?"_

 _Every time he came down here he was asked this question and the answer never changed._

" _Because you wanted it."_

* * *

"Another detention? Danny, what's going on? Why are you always late to class?" his mother asked him, clearly exasperated. And Danny wanted to tell her why. He wanted to tell her that a ghost had stopped him on his way to school, that it wasn't his fault. He wanted her to know what was going on in his life right now, how he barely had time to study anymore.

But he didn't. She could never know.

"It wasn't my fault," he decided to reply.

"Then whose fault was it? I know you're leaving on time every day. Is something wrong?"

He couldn't stand the look she was giving him. She cared about him, wanted to know if he had any problems, but he couldn't tell her. She simply wouldn't understand.

"It was Dash," he muttered, hoping he sounded convincing. It wasn't really a lie. Dash did get him into trouble.

She now seemed even more worried. "Dash? Isn't that the boy Jazz was tutoring?"

Danny nodded and looked at the ground. "He's always…I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly. Dash truly was bothering him. Even after the portal had started to work, proving his parents were right, the bully still didn't leave him alone. How Danny wished he could make him pay for the years of bullying, making him come home crying when he had been younger.

"You can tell me anything, Danny. I'm your mother." How he wished that were true. How he wished he could truly tell her anything.

"Honey, look at me and tell me what's wrong."

Danny had never told them who was bullying him. Even as a small kid he had been ashamed that he couldn't stand up for himself. No matter how much they had begged him to tell them, he would never respond. He had believed if he told them things would get worse.

He looked up at her and saw how worried she was. Danny was no fool and neither was his mother. He knew she had noticed he didn't eat as much as he used to, or that he always looked tired. So far he had been able to avert any conversations about it. However, it appeared that wasn't the case anymore. And while he couldn't tell her the whole truth, she deserved to know about something else which was bothering him.

"Remember when I used to come home from school?" Danny said and saw her nod. "I never told you who was bullying me."

His mother frowned, realisation apparent on her face. "It was Dash, wasn't it? I never suspected- When he was here a few weeks ago he was so nice."

Danny laughed at that, though there was no humour behind it. "He's never nice to me. I can't remember him ever being nice."

"Oh Danny, I had no idea. He's still bullying you? I thought that had stopped," she replied shocked.

"I didn't want you guys to worry." He had known how much him being bullied had upset his parents, who had partly blamed themselves for it. "That's why I'm late. He's always being rude and then I get angry which just makes the whole situation worse. And then…well, it doesn't need saying."

His mum looked so sad at that moment and Danny wondered if maybe he shouldn't have told her.

"Doesn't Dash also get in trouble if he's late? Surely the teachers must've noticed this is happening." Danny nearly laughed again, but the concerned look his mother was giving him stopped him.

"He's a football star, mum. I'm a nobody at school. The teachers love him."

"I'm so sorry, Danny. I never realised this was still happening, and that it was Dash. I'm going to call the school-"

"No!" Danny quickly cut her off. "Don't, please. It will just make things worse. Let me just take the punishment and let's forget about this, okay?"

His mother looked at him in disapproval. "I can't forget about this. How else are we going to solve this problem?"

"We aren't. I've endured this for years, mum. You don't need to worry about it, alright? Just, don't call the school." His social life would be even more ruined if she did that.

Danny hoped she would let this go. Dash was the least of his problems anyway. He could beat him up, but that would be suspicious. So he had to let himself get bullied.

"I know you don't want that. Still, I'm worried about you… I'll tell Jazz she can't tutor Dash, at least not here anymore. Does that sound okay to you?" she asked and Danny nodded, smiling. "Yeah, that's okay. Thanks mum."

She ruffled his hair and smiled in return. "It's the least I can do."

* * *

 _Danny heard him sob as he listened to the goings-on downstairs._

" _Please, just listen to me!"_

" _I'm sick and tired of your lies, ghost."_

 _He heard muffled gasps, then silence. Danny got up and walked to his room._

* * *

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes, although a smile tugged at his lips. His father truly could get on someone's nerves fast, but how could you ever get mad at him? He was simply being himself.

"Good, it should be fixed now," his dad smiled and looked at the now repaired Fenton Ghost Weasel. Danny still felt queasy looking at it, remembering being crammed into it.

His mum and Jazz were away and his dad had thought now would be the perfect opportunity to spend time with his son. And spending time with him meant bonding over ghost hunting. If his dad only knew how much ghost hunting Danny actually did.

"Why did it need fixing in the first place?" Danny asked his father who immediately began to explain. "Your mother and I weren't quite satisfied with its abilities. You see, the Fenton Ghost Weasel could only hold so much ghostly material before it was full. We tried to build something new which would be able to contain much more mass, the Fenton Thermos, but we never got it to work."

Danny didn't know what he'd do without the Fenton Thermos. It had helped him capture ghosts so often that he was beginning to lose count. His parents always build gadgets that didn't seem to work at first, but Danny would be finished if they didn't exist.

"So I decided to try if I could improve the Fenton Ghost Weasel and we'll see if it will work next time a ghost shows up. It's only a matter of time until a new one appears," his dad told him and Danny nodded.

His father smiled at him. "Thank you for helping. I'm glad that you're showing more interest in ghost hunting, son. I used to think you didn't believe in ghosts at all like your sister did."

"I just thought now that ghosts started appearing at my school I should be more prepared," Danny said. He used to believe he and his parents would never have anything in common, but since the accident that no longer was true.

"And you should be. With our weapons no ghost is safe!" his dad proclaimed. "We will hunt every ghost down. They will wish they would've never come here!"

Danny laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I mean, with you and mum always on the lookout for ghosts they will have no chance."

"Danny, I'm glad you have such faith in us." He put one hand on Danny's shoulder, "now, are you sure you don't want me to make another jumpsuit for you? The last one disappeared…"

"I think I'm fine, dad. If I ever feel like I need one I'll tell you," Danny assured him and smiled at him. "I should go now. I promised Tucker I'd come over. I'll see you later."

* * *

" _Do you know why they're always down there? I mean, even more so than they usually are," Jazz asked him and Danny shrugged._

" _Maybe they discovered something new, I don't know."_

" _Whatever it is, they should spend more time with us. It's the most important step towards a healthier relationship with someone's parents. How about we ask them to go on a weekend trip somewhere?"_

 _Danny nodded and smiled. "Sounds like fun."_

* * *

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I told you."

"Danny, I'm your best friend, I know when something's up."

They were in the park on the swing. It was getting dark, but that didn't bother them. They had been fighting a ghost an hour ago and Danny hadn't wanted to go back home yet. Sam had had to go back home, but Tucker had decided to stay.

"Danny."

He looked at his friend, seeing the worry in his eyes. "I don't know, Tucker. It's getting harder and harder."

"What is?" he asked Danny who was now looking at the ground.

"The whole half ghost thing. I thought I was over it. But, I hate lying to my parents all the time. I hate the fact that my grades are suffering because I'm ghost hunting. I used to have good grades and now I can't even bear to look at my report card. I mean, I wanted to be an astronaut, still want to be, but now I'll never be able to if I keep this up. I just feel like my whole life is going down the drain."

It wasn't often that he talked to his friends about this. Once or twice he had let it slip that he wasn't satisfied with how his life had changed, but he had never told someone this in such a direct way.

Tucker seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. "I guess your grades really got worse. But I thought you liked ghost hunting, helping others."

"Of course I like helping others, but what do I get in return? Everyone hates me, no matter which form I'm in. When I'm like this I get bullied at school, laughed at by others and receive punishment I don't deserve. When I'm a ghost my parents are hunting me. My own parents. Ever since the accident my whole life got so much more complicated. I hunt ghosts, save people and for what? I don't even know what I'll do after high school if I keep this up! My parents don't say it, but they're disappointed in me and I can't blame them. My grades are crap."

"Danny, you know what for. You're saving lives! Without you ghosts would be tearing this city apart," Tucker replied and Danny sighed.

"I know, believe me. It doesn't make it easier though. I sometimes wish this would have never happened, that I would have never stepped into that stupid portal. I'd still be me, normal Danny Fenton. I'd still get bullied, yeah, but at least I'd get sleep, at least I could study and do something for my future."

Tucker was silent, most likely trying to figure out what to say. It felt good to finally talk to someone about it. Danny could always rely on his best friend.

"I never knew it bothered you this much," was the reply. "I really had no idea. Let's say you were back to normal again, who would defend the city?"

"My parents," Danny told him and Tucker laughed. "Come one, you believe your parents can defend the whole city from ghosts?"

"I…don't know. They aren't idiots. As a team they can be quite dangerous. I think my parents could handle themselves."

Tucker didn't look very convinced. "I don't know, man. This is all hypothetical anyway. You're Danny Fenton, half-human, half-ghost. Even though this is a large burden to carry, I believe this happened for a reason. And hey, you might still be able to become an astronaut. You still have time to improve your grades."

Hypothetical. Tucker was right, wasn't he? He couldn't simply ditch the ghost hunting. No. He had to learn to deal with all of this. But he had already tried and it wasn't working. Danny didn't know how much longer he could go on like this.

At night he couldn't fall asleep, busy thinking about what his parents might say if they ever found out. Would they accept him the way he was? What would Jazz say? His sister was always worrying about him, but could she accept a brother who was half ghost? It scared him, the thought that they could reject him. Most humans would reject him and so would the ghosts. Both sides thought of him as something unnatural, something which shouldn't exist.

"I never noticed that this was on your mind so much," Tucker said quietly. It was an odd moment, an odd conversation. They normally didn't talk too much about their feelings. Danny had never deemed it necessary. He had always thought they knew each other so well they had no need for this. Perhaps he had been wrong.

"It's stupid, isn't it? I can't change the fact that this happened, yet I can't stop wallowing in self-pity. I hate it," Danny muttered, starting to resent himself. Why couldn't he just accept it?

Tucker shook his head and looked at him. "It's not stupid. You've got so much stuff to do. I've been wondering how the hell you were managing to do everything you were supposed to. I guess you don't."

Danny chuckled, "no, I don't."

"And you're sure you don't want to tell your parents? Maybe they'd understand. Hell, they might be able to help you," he tried to reason with him.

"No. I don't want to risk it. I've got enough problems already."

Silence followed again and Danny looked up at the now dark sky. It was a cloudless night and the stars were visible, twinkling down at him. He wasn't ready to give up on his dream, not yet. Had this truly happened for a reason, as Tucker had said? He didn't want this. He wanted to be normal and live his life like he was supposed to.

"Whatever happens in the future, you'll always have us," Tucker said after a few minutes and Danny smiled. "And you can talk to us whenever you want to."

"Thank you."

Danny couldn't express how grateful he was that he had friends like them. Without them his life would be an utter disaster.

* * *

" _Stop telling them lies," Danny said darkly as he looked at the ghost. "I've had enough."_

" _I will never stop," he glared at him. "I will never stop telling them what happened until they finally believe me."_

" _Then I'll simply make you stop."_

" _Danny?"_

* * *

It was the only way. He had to do this, for his own sake. He didn't care anymore what would happen if he stopped ghost hunting. What mattered to him was his future, his life. Everyone was so disappointed in him and there was only one way he could change that.

Danny looked at the Fenton Ghost Catcher and shuddered. Now that he was determined to do this it looked ominous. He had seen it work when he had saved Tucker after his wish to Desiree. He could use it to get rid of his ghost half once and for all. No more ghost hunting, no more sleepless nights, no more worrying about his parents finding out his secret.

Once he was separated into two parts he would simply capture his other half with the Fenton Thermos and bury it, never to be seen again. His life could go on like it was supposed to.

Taking a deep breath Danny transformed, heart in his throat from anticipation. There was no going back once he went through.

"I guess this is goodbye, ghost powers. While you were helpful, you're getting in the way of my life," Danny said and chuckled. Now he was talking to himself. "This is it."

He closed his eyes. For the last time they would shine bright neon green. For the last time his hair would be white. And for the last time in his life he would feel like a freak of nature, something which didn't belong, something that shouldn't exist.

And so Danny flew through the Fenton Ghost Catcher.


	2. Chapter 2

It was an odd sensation, being split apart. Danny could feel something changing and was worried that maybe this hadn't been a good idea, but he had to do this in order to change his life for the better.

As suddenly as it had started it was over. Danny fell to the floor and held his head, feeling like he had just been hit by a truck. "I'm never doing that again," he muttered and slowly opened his eyes.

And then a sight greeted him which he hadn't prepared himself to see.

Looking at himself was going to be odd, he knew that. Even when you looked into the mirror you didn't truly see yourself. You were simply staring at a reflection. Right now Danny wasn't, but that wasn't what shocked him.

It was the fact that before him stood Danny Fenton. He was looking at a fifteen year old boy with black hair and blue eyes. He was staring at himself which raised the question: who was he?

Danny looked down at himself and saw the black jumpsuit. Oh no. He wasn't supposed to be wearing that. Horrified he stared at himself, no, that couldn't be him. He was him. He couldn't wrap his head around what was going on. Something had gone wrong.

"What happened?"

His other self was looking at him curiously and not at all afraid, which put Danny on edge even more. Why wasn't he –the other he– freaking out?

"I'm not supposed to be in this form," he said to his other half. This was truly weird. He pulled on his hair, seeing the white strands which were nearly covering his eyes. White hair, the black jumpsuit. If he looked into the mirror he was sure that his eyes would be a startling green. "We've got to reverse this."

"Why?"

Danny was taken aback by the answer. "Why? Because it went wrong. I mean, look at me. I'm supposed to be you." He stood up, legs shaking, and leaned against the wall behind him. His vision was blurry and he felt dizzy.

"Nothing went wrong," was the reply. "I'm human again."

What was he talking about? "Can't you see? It didn't work! I'm in my other form!" Danny was trying not to panic. Something wasn't right here. It was like he was talking to a brick wall.

His other self shook his head. "I think you're confused. I wanted to get rid of my ghost half and become a normal human again. It worked. Now all that's left to do is putting you in here."

Danny watched as he grabbed the Fenton Thermos from the table and his eyes widened. "No! What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted and out of instinct and panic shot an ectoblast, hitting his human half's shoulder who cried out in pain and let the Thermos drop to the floor.

He instantly regretted the action. What was he doing? He just hurt himself. This was seriously messing with his head.

"We have to go through the Ghost Catcher!" Danny said, now becoming scared. "How about we forget this ever happened? Maybe leading a double life isn't so bad."

The other version of him was chuckling now. "No, we won't reverse this. There's no going back now. What's done is done," he said and grabbed the Jack o' Nine Tails and before Danny could move fired it at him. He cried out in pain as he was electrified, slumping against the wall when his legs could no longer support his weight. He struggled, trying to free himself, but it was for naught. This thing was draining his energy and prevented him from moving his arms.

"Why are you doing this?" Danny asked and saw his other self smile.

"The idea was to get rid of the ghost half, wasn't it? That's what I'm doing."

"What is wrong with you? We're the same person! Besides, I'm not a ghost!"

"Then what are you?"

Danny stopped struggling, suddenly realising what exactly had happened. Normally when his energy was depleting he would revert back to his human form, but that hadn't happened. Which meant that he no longer had a human half.

He was a ghost.

"I see that you finally understand what's going on," the human said. "I'm simply following the plan, our plan."

"But I don't understand. I'm still me. I- I'm Danny Fenton. Who are you?" Danny asked, desperately trying to understand.

"I'm you. We are the same person," was the unsatisfying answer.

He shook his head. "You aren't me. I'd never do this."

"You wouldn't? The plan was to get rid of the ghost half, trapping it in the Fenton Thermos for the rest of its life, for eternity. And you are telling me you wouldn't do this?"

Danny didn't know what he should do, if there was anything he could do. His only chance was to get them both back into the Fenton Ghost Catcher.

"I wasn't lying, _Danny_. I am you. I'm you when your parents are trying to kill you. I'm you when Dash bullies you, when Mr. Lancer punishes you. I'm you when you cry in your bed, wanting to go back to how everything was before. I'm you when you lie to your friends. I'm you at your worst. I've been rejected, I've been beaten and I've been pushed aside. I no longer want that. When we went through this thing we split apart. And now, _Danny_ , I'm going to live my life. I'm going to be a normal teenager without needing to worry about my parents accidentally killing me. I'm going to get through school. I'm going to make my dream come true. I'm going to make my parents happy and proud of me."

Danny tried to let the words sink in. This was him, a part of him. He couldn't let this happen. If this was him at his worst then who knew what he was going to do?

"How about we start with my parents?" Danny looked at him, wondering what he meant.

His other half went to the stairs and started shouting.

"Mum, Dad! You've got to come! There's a ghost here!"

 _ **No.**_

Danny wasn't going to let this happen. His parents were going to see him as a ghost. They would think he was just another ghost.

"Why are you doing this?" Danny asked afraid and tried to free himself before his parents saw. There had to be a way he could get free. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't let this happen. No no no.

He heard his parents coming down the stairs and felt pure and utter panic set in.

"Answer me! Why? I didn't do anything!" he cried out, knowing that as soon as his parents saw him his life would never be the same again. His eyes widened as he saw them entering the basement.

Still the now human part of him didn't reply and looked at his parents, his expression shifting. No longer did he look unfazed by the situation. He looked near tears, his face that of a scared child's. "Mum, Dad, I- I caught a ghost. He was attacking me," he told them, showing them the wound on his shoulder. His mother glared at him, not recognising her own son who was simply staring at her, frozen in place. Danny saw the disgust on his parents' faces, the same expression he had been dreading to see ever since the accident. His father looked like he was ready to kill him and Danny could only stare. "Nobody hurts my son," his mother said, voice full of distain.

Danny looked at his human counterpart who was simply smiling at him, smiling while he was destroying Danny's life. His parents didn't know it was him. He was a ghost now. Just a simple ghost, a being which didn't belong here. There was nothing he could do.

* * *

"You did what?!" Tucker shouted and heard Sam gasp next to him. A few students turned their heads in their direction and normally Tucker would apologise for getting so loud, but right now he couldn't care less.

Danny frowned, apparently uncomfortable with the people looking at them now. "Can you calm down?" he said. "Look, it's seriously not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?" Sam whispered harshly and looked like she was about to murder Danny with her bare hands. "You got rid of your powers! How is that not a big deal?" she hissed.

"I gotta agree with Sam. Why did- What the hell?" Tucker looked at Danny equal parts confused and angry. They had talked about this. That hadn't even been that long ago and now Danny had just ignored his advice?

Apparently it wasn't a big deal to Danny at all, judging from his reaction. He simply shrugged and closed his locker after stuffing the rest of his books inside. "They were starting to be a hassle, you know? They were ruining my life and I couldn't live with them any longer. It was the right thing to do."

Sam was now looking dangerously close to really hurting Danny and Tucker tried to defuse the situation, because he seriously didn't want to get in trouble. Again. "Okay. So, Danny…that was kind of unexpected and I think you can understand that Sam and I are a bit…surprised," he started and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Because to us this is a big deal. Well, more like a huge deal, actually."

"A _very_ big deal," the goth added and crossed her arms. "How did you do it then?"

Danny looked at him. "Remember when you wished for ghost powers?"

"Yeah, of course," Tucker replied. Having ghost powers had been awesome at the beginning. Seeing Danny be a superhero, fighting ghosts and being able to turn invisible and all that… Tucker had envied him. Part of him still did, although he knew that in reality it was nothing for him. He wouldn't be able to do it and seemingly it had even gotten to be too much for Danny.

"I used the Fenton Ghost Catcher, it was pretty easy," his best friend continued and smiled. "And now I'm finally fully human again. I really don't understand why you look so upset. I'm finally me again."

"You were you before," Sam told him and shook her head. "Danny, you weren't a different person. You just had the ability to turn into a ghost, but that didn't change your personality. Why- I still can't believe that you did that. Also, what did you do with your ghost side?"

Tucker was curious too. What _had_ Danny done with the ghost? Had he made him go into the Ghost Zone? And was the ghost a completely separate being?

"I put him into the Fenton Thermos," Danny answered, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. "What did you think I was going to do? It was a ghost. And now he's in the park, buried. If I put him back into the Ghost Zone he'd just come back some time later and I seriously don't want to deal with that."

Buried? "So he's just in the Thermos forever then?" Tucker inquired to be absolutely sure. Because if that was the truth…wow. He would've never thought Danny would do something like that.

"Yup. And that means my life can finally continue without me having to spend most of my time hunting ghosts," his best friend told him with a smile on his face.

Tucker understood his decision in some way. He had seen what the constant ghost hunting had done to his friend. It was clear that it had weighed upon his mind. Despite all that, Tucker thought it had been a pretty stupid decision. They had talked about this before and yes, he was a bit pissed that Danny apparently hadn't even considered his advice. But he was also concerned and mostly surprised by how little the act of splitting himself apart had seemingly affected him.

After having been through the same thing –although it had been a bit different, he wasn't saying that it had been the _exact same_ situation– Tucker had suffered from the after-effects. He had felt queasy the next few days and had also been a bit paranoid– nearly turning into a monster would do that to you.

Danny appeared to feel fine though. Sam didn't, judging from her face which was still slightly red from anger. Tucker couldn't blame her. Danny had done something which was pretty selfish, all things considered.

"So that's it then? You're done saving the city? Just like that?" Sam asked bluntly and Danny rolled his eyes. "Sam, come on. Wasn't it a bit much to ask a fourteen year old guy to save the city? And yeah, I know I'm fifteen now, but the point still stands."

"You know what? Yeah, it was. I suppose it was pretty stupid of me to actually think one of my best friends could ever protect the city and not act like a stupid selfish jerk," she huffed and walked away, leaving Tucker to stare at her back as she left them.

Danny sighed, "I take it that she doesn't think I made the right decision," he said and Tucker chuckled. "You could say that. She'll stop being mad at you eventually. Besides, I'm not sure about this whole thing either, man."

The bell rang, signalling that they were running late for their class. Tucker looked back at Danny and swore that his friend was glaring at him for a second, but right now he was smiling. "At least you're not as pissed as Sam is. We should go before Lancer kills us," he said and Tucker nodded, forgetting about the whole Danny-got-rid-of-his-ghost-powers-and-buried-his-ghost-half-in-the-park-situation for now, instead opting for mentally preparing himself for the English lesson that lay ahead of them.

* * *

Time was the first thing he lost track of.

Perhaps it was because he never saw the sunlight. There were no windows down here. The whole place was illuminated by spars lights and the occasional glow of the portal.

Perhaps it was because he could no longer sleep. At first he hadn't even noticed the change. He had realised his inability to sleep when his parents had talked to each other, saying that he had been down here for a week. He didn't know how much time had passed since then. His parents never talked about something as irrelevant to them again.

His parents.

Danny had tried to explain to them what had happened, but they wouldn't listen to him. Again and again they had told him to stop spreading lies, threatening to shut him up once and for all, but he knew they wouldn't do that. They needed his information about other ghosts. It was the only thing that prevented them from killing him.

His chest hurt when he thought about this for too long. If he was beginning to be useless they would kill him. To them he was just a ghost.

His worst nightmare had become a reality. Here he was, shackled to a table, every day waiting for his parents to torture him with not so much their actions, but their words. The one thing he had feared had happened and the worst thing was that it was his entire fault.

Using the Fenton Ghost Catcher had been his idea. Tucker had told him that the accident must have happened for a reason. Sam had told him again and again that he was saving lives and that without him Amity Park was in serious trouble. And what had he done? He had disregarded their words for his own selfish reasons.

Had his friends noticed something wasn't right? He was their friend; they knew him better than anyone else. Surely they had noticed by now that the Danny they were talking to wasn't him. They had to know.

Right?

Oftentimes he wondered what he –the now human part– had said to them. How had they reacted to finding out he was no longer half-human, half-ghost? What questions had they asked? How had the phony him reacted? Surely they must know it wasn't truly him.

Danny stared at the ceiling, his heart aching at the thought of his friends not even knowing what had truly transpired. It was funny how it was aching now, but it didn't beat. He had no pulse, no need to breathe, although he still did it. It was a habit, but he also consciously breathed to make himself believe that he was still human in some way.

His heart used to beat when he was in ghost form, although very slowly. However, there was nothing human about him anymore. That was the truth, plain and simple. He didn't bleed blood and judging from his parents' reaction his skin was ice cold. He had no need to eat, no need to sleep. That was all gone.

His friends had forgotten him. No, Danny thought, not forgotten. They believed they were talking to him, when in reality it was someone else. A fake Danny Fenton. Even though he had told Danny that he was him, Danny couldn't accept it. It simply couldn't be him, not entirely at least. They were different. Even if his plan had been to capture his ghost half and never let him out of the Fenton Thermos again, he would have never done this. He would have never let him be studied by his parents. He was better than that, he told himself.

And yet, he couldn't hate him. He couldn't hate his human half for what he had done. Danny had tried, but he was simply unable to experience hatred. He also couldn't be angry at his parents. They had no idea that he was their son. To them he was the ghost boy who they saw whenever another ghost appeared in the city. He couldn't be angry, but damn, it hurt.

His thoughts turned to his sister who he hadn't seen since the day he had screwed his life up for good. Even if his friends didn't notice something was wrong, even if his parents had no clue what had happened to their son, his sister must know. She was so smart and had always cared about him. If someone could figure out this Danny that pretended to be him was fake, it was her.

God, he missed them all so much. He missed his friends who had been by his side no matter what. He missed his sister who mothered him whenever she could. He missed his parents. He missed talking to them, being annoyed how they always were preoccupied by their passion for ghost hunting and studying. He still saw them every day, but it wasn't the same. They didn't know this was him.

No one did. He was all alone.

* * *

Jazz smiled at her brother and then walked away, leaving him to sit alone by the table in their kitchen.

Something wasn't right.

She had first started to notice that something wasn't right when her brother was no longer tired. Of course she had thought he had simply begun to take better care of himself, but that wasn't entirely it. Suddenly he started caring about school again and while that had made her and their parents happy, Jazz knew it was weird.

Her brother was smart and used to have good grades, but that had changed about a year ago. His grades worsened, he was tired all the time and he was out with his friends pretty late. At the beginning Jazz had thought it was simply his teenage phase kicking in. Combined with their parents' inability to spend enough time with them both it didn't surprise her that he was becoming more rebellious and also distant.

But that hadn't been it.

Danny didn't know that she knew about his secret. She was always pretending she didn't know the ghost boy who was fighting to protect them. Seeing her brother protect the city made her proud, but also filled her heart with worry. What if he was going to be seriously injured one day? She wanted to be there for him, tell him that she knew and that he could tell her everything, yet she also understood that he was afraid someone was going to find out and possibly get him into danger, so she hadn't told him.

All things considered Jazz should be happy that her brother was starting to care about his school life again and to some extent she was. And yet there was this nagging feeling that this wasn't right.

Furthermore, Danny was acting weirdly too.

Sometimes they were talking about their childhood. Jazz was telling him about how they used to do road trips in the summer and he simply didn't seem to remember. Of course he tried to play it off, pretend that he did know and he was only messing with her, but Jazz wasn't stupid. So why couldn't Danny remember?

A weekend trip was the perfect opportunity for her to find out what was wrong with her brother. That way he had to spend time with her, if he wanted to or not.

Jazz had tried to talk about her suspicions that her brother wasn't well with her mother, but she had said nothing was wrong and that Danny had simply realised that he had to spend more time studying for school. Couldn't she see that he was behaving differently? Was she the only one who thought something strange was going on?

There was a possibility that something had happened while he had been fighting a ghost. She should talk to his friends about it, but they also didn't know that she knew about his secret life. Would they tell Danny that she knew? What was one supposed to do in such a situation?

She wanted to help her brother, because right now he wasn't acting like himself. Usually when Jazz talked to him about how they could try to get their parents to spend more time with them, Danny said that it was fine the way it was now and that their absence didn't bother him. He hadn't this time. He had told her it would be nice to spend more time with them. Normally he'd never say that –which saddened her and strengthened her belief that he really did need to spend more time with his parents– and yet this time he had.

Jazz would find out what was wrong with her brother, even if that meant telling him she knew he was the ghost boy.


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't you think it's strange?" Sam asked him and sat cross-legged on Tucker's bed. "I mean, he just suddenly decided to ditch his ghost powers? Just like that?"

Tucker shrugged, "I guess it became too much for him. He was constantly ghost hunting and had no time for school at all anymore. To some extent I understand why he did it."

She didn't. Danny had always fought ghosts without needing to be asked, it had become his responsibility. Why did he do this?

Two weeks had passed since he had told them what he had done. Sam still remembered his exact words, the shrug and almost uninterested tone of his voice.

 _"_ _I got rid of my ghost powers. I decided that I didn't want them anymore."_

Even now she still couldn't believe it. She had always thought that even though his parents were making him worry, Danny liked helping others, fighting for the city. Hell, he even liked to play the occasional prank on them by going invisible. _He used to like it_ , Sam reminded herself. Danny no longer possessed ghost powers.

"You said to some extent you understand it." She saw him nod.

"I had a conversation with him about him wanting to be normal again actually," he said, surprising Sam. "You did?"

"Yeah. It was after a ghost hunt and you had already gone home. All of a sudden he began talking about his grades and his parents and that he was still struggling leading a double life. I always thought he was fine with it, but he told me something different. He was really worried about his future. I told him that if he stopped ghost hunting no one would defend the city. Danny suggested that his parents could handle the ghosts and while so far they've been doing alright, what happens when a more dangerous ghost attacks, like Spectra or Desiree? We'd be screwed," Tucker sighed and sat up.

"I never thought he'd actually do it. But, there's something else on my mind," he told her.

Sam wondered if Tucker had noticed it too, the odd behaviour. "He's different," she said and he looked at her surprised and then nodded. "I wasn't sure if you had noticed."

"I did. He…I don't even know why, but talking to him feels different. And whenever a ghost appears he does nothing. Absolutely nothing. I thought maybe he'd keep his Fenton Thermos around in case something happened, but no. He completely ignores the fact that he used to hunt ghosts!" Sam groaned as she wasn't able to suppress her anger any longer.

"It's selfish! What he has done is nothing but selfish! I get that it must be hard and I fully sympathise with him, but wasn't it also good that the accident happened? He got his powers and he keeps the city safe. It's his responsibility now. And what did he do? He threw that all away like it was nothing. He no longer cares about protecting others. Tucker, what is going on with him?"

She looked at him, desperate for an answer. She couldn't accept that Danny had done this for his own selfish reasons. Or was it selfish of her to expect him to do this? Had the accident affected him this much?

"I don't know." Tucker seemed to be at a loss. "I've known Danny for nearly my entire life, but these past few weeks it felt like I was talking to someone else. He's always wanted to help others whenever he could. Hell, he got his ghost powers because he wanted to help his parents. And now I get this weird feeling when I'm talking to him. I can't explain it. Maybe I'm talking nonsense."

"No, I know what you mean, Tucker," Sam replied and looked down at her legs. "He has changed since he got rid of his ghost half. I can't believe that he just sucked the ghost into the Thermos. Just like it had never been a part of him."

"Yeah. And now it's buried in the park. It must suck, being in there for eternity," Tucker muttered. "What do you think it was like, his ghost half?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. It was a part of Danny. I don't think it was purely evil. But I also don't want to think it was like him."

"Neither do I. I also can't imagine Danny imprisoning him if he was good. Can you?"

"No."

Danny hadn't talked about what it had been like, or what he had been like. Come to think of it, Danny had not mentioned the day he had gotten rid of his ghost powers at all.

Sam wondered again if maybe she was being unfair. Her friend had had to lead a double life and hide what he was from his parents. It couldn't have been easy. Part of her understood why he had done it, but still. It might have been selfish and yet she hadn't known exactly what Danny went through. Maybe that was why she was so angry at him. She felt as though she had somehow failed as his friend.

"We should stop talking about this before I start missing going ghost hunting," Tucker said. "How about we play a quick game?" he suggested and Sam nodded. "Okay." At least now she knew that she wasn't alone with her worries.

* * *

She was starting to lose her patience.

Maddie looked at results of the latest test and tried to ignore the ghost's attempt to make her change her mind. For the past two weeks it had spouted nothing but lies, ridiculous ones. Did it honestly think she would believe that this being was her son?

"So, what did you find out this time?" it asked her even though she had told it to shut up. She was beginning to think her son had captured the most annoying ghost in existence. And yet it was also fascinating. Last week Jack and she had gotten the ghost to demonstrate its ability to turn parts of itself intangible. Their dream of studying a living ghost had finally become a reality. Some day they would publish all of their research and change the entire world's perspective on ghosts.

"Nothing?"

Maddie turned to look at the ghost. "Will you be quiet for one minute?" she said exasperatedly. "I don't understand your need for conversation."

The ghost shrugged, at least she thought it was a shrug. The shackles prevented it from moving too much and from using its powers. "You're the only person who talks to me besides dad."

"He's _not_ your father!" she told the ghost firmly. "Stop acting like he is."

A moment of silence followed and Maddie turned her attention back to her computer. The ghost got under her skin like nothing else. It acted like a human, she couldn't deny it. Even its body language felt…familiar in some way. And while its emotions and the way it held itself reminded her of a human, nothing else did. Its voice was like an echo and sounded otherworldly. At Casper High Jack and she had encountered a variety of different ghosts and they had all appeared to glow green like ectoplasm did. But this ghost glowed white, for reasons unbeknownst to her.

Then there was its strikingly white hair and while it could simply be dyed she seriously doubted that. Furthermore, it was no albino as its slightly tan skin proved. The feature which undoubtedly proved it was a ghost was its neon green eyes. If she looked at them for too long she had spots in her vision afterwards, as if she had stared into a light. One time Jack had turned off the light in the basement and the ghost's eyes had glowed in the dark. If she hadn't known it couldn't move she would have truly been frightened.

"He is my father," the ghost told her quietly. "I told you what happened. I'm telling the truth."

"No you aren't. You're a manipulative ghost. I'm not buying your lies, so you can stop lying," Maddie replied angrily.

She heard it sigh, wondering why it did that. It had no need to breathe, was it a habit? But how had the ghost acquired it? It was truly a mystery.

"I'm not lying. Don't you get it? I'm your son! I split myself apart to get rid of my powers, but something went wrong!"

Lies. All it ever told her were lies.

She stood up and walked over to the ghost. "My son never had these so called powers. He's human just like I am. What you've been telling me is nothing but ridiculous. Yes, Danny was in an accident, but it didn't change him into some sort of hybrid. It's impossible to be half-ghost. Either you're dead or you aren't!"

Maddie saw the ghost flinch, but she had had enough. She wasn't going to stop now. "You have to accept the fact that you're dead. You're a ghost, not human. I'm not your mother. Our son is alive and currently at school. He never led a double life. I know my son," she said. "So stop trying to tell me that you're him. You're nothing like him. You're just a ghost who tried to kill my son."

It looked away and she thought that had been that. She sat back down and saved the results, finished for the day when she heard a sob. What?

"I'm not- I'm not dead." She stared at the ghost who was looking at her, its eyes shining with…tears?

"I'm telling the truth. I-I'm not lying! Mum, you've got to believe me! I'm your son! I'm Danny Fenton!" it sobbed and now she saw the tears escaping its eyes. Ghosts could cry?

"I remember when we used to bake cookies when I was younger and Dad would always try to steal one when we weren't looking. I remember when you wanted to teach me survival techniques because you were a girl scout, but I was so horrible that you gave up on that. I-I remember when we went on a trip to a gala of some kind, but ended up at Vlad's and went back home with his helicopter. How would I know that if I wasn't your son?" it said and Maddie didn't know what to say.

How did it know all of that? How could a ghost know these things which had happened over the span of several years? Maddie had a bad feeling about all of this. However, the ghost had to be lying. None of the things it had told her before had made any sense. It was simply trying to confuse her.

"How long have you been waiting for the opportunity to kill my son? Mocking us with your appearance?" she glared at the ghost boy. There wasn't another explanation for all of this. He had been observing them for years.

"Mocking-"

"Yes, mocking us! You look similar to him, because you were taunting us!" she accused him.

He shook his head, "no! I never wanted to kill him! I'm telling the truth, mum!"

"Stop calling me that!" she shouted. "I don't want to hear it anymore. You're not my son!" She walked to the table, not wanting to hear him utter another word.

The ghost boy struggled against his bonds. "Please, just listen to me!" he begged her.

"I'm sick and tired of your lies, ghost." She forced his jaws apart and put the mouth gag on him. He was saying something, but she could no longer understand him, his voice muffled and she sighed in relief.

The ghost was now silently staring at the ceiling, the tear tracks still visible on his face. He acted so human, so unlike any other ghost. It freaked her out and Maddie didn't want to start thinking of him as anything other than human. Him? When had she started referring to the ghost as a person?

"I'll take it off when you learn to shut up when you're told to," she said and left the basement, not wanting to be in the same room with the ghost boy any longer. She couldn't listen to his lies anymore and his human behaviour irritated her. He was a ghost, not a human. No matter how much he insisted that he was his son, Danny. His story didn't make any sense to her. It was impossible for a human to gain such powers, wasn't it? And if that had honestly happened Danny would've told them. Their son wouldn't keep such a thing from them.

She entered the kitchen and saw Danny sitting there with one of his textbooks. "Do you have a test soon?" she asked him and he nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think it will be too hard. It's not like it's Math," he said, making Maddie smile. She was relieved that he was taking school more seriously again.

Even though she didn't trust him she kept thinking about what the ghost had said. According to him this wasn't her son, just a part of him. Could the Fenton Dream Catcher achieve that? Maddie scolded herself for even thinking about this. The ghost was trying to get under her skin.

Everything was fine.


End file.
